Bhima-Koregaon clash: Who are the activists who have been raided?
New Delhi, August 28: In joint raids across the country, the Pune police raided the homes of at least eight activists including Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Susan Abraham, Anand Teltumbde and Fr Stan Swamy across the country on Tuesday, August 28, 2018, under the pretext that these persons were behind the violence that erupted at the annual celebrations at Bhima-Koregaon memorial on December 31, 2017, and the police claim these activists were also involved in the plot to assassinate the Prime Minister.
According to reports, they have arrested Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves. The Pune police had hoped to arrest Gautam Navlakha, but the Delhi High Court has issued a stay on the transit remand of Gautam Navlakha. The police will not be able to take Navlakha to Pune. He will have to be presented at the Delhi High Court on Wednesday. He is being detained at home.
So, who are the activists who have been raided?
Sudha Bharadwaj
Sudha Bharadwaj is an Indian trade unionist and a civil rights activist against land acquisition. She is currently the general secretary of the Chhattisgarh People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), and also the founder of Janhit (a lawyers collective) and is also associated with the late Shankar Guha Niyogi’s Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha. Bharadwaj fought against corrupt bureaucrats to ensure proper wages were paid to the workers in the mines and plants located in Bhilai.
On June 7, activist lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, the Vice-President of the IAPL, along other lawyers and activists, accused the government and police of arresting Surender Gadling, Rona Wilson, Mahesh Raut, Shoma Sen and Sudhir Dhawale to shield Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote, the leaders of a Hindutva outfit.
In March, Sudha Bharadwaj, rejected an invitation to 2018 annual memorial lecture organised by the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning (CESP) at JNU after the dean surpassed the suggestion of CESP to invite Pratap Bhanu Mehta and invited Shiv Choudhary to deliver the memorial lecture.
Gautam Navlakha
He has been associated with People's Union for Democratic Rights and is a Delhi-based journalist. He is also an editorial consultant of the Economic and Political Weekly.
On August 2, Gautam Navlakha was issued a notice by Reliance group owned by Anil Ambani for a story on Rafale fighter aircraft. During a press conference in July, he along with Sudha Bharadwaj demanded repeal of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. They said, the Act, passed to regulate the activities of unlawful organisations, has been used by the government to curb extremist activities as opposed to unlawful activities.
Varavara Rao
Varavara Rao is a poet, journalist from Hyderabad. He is one one of the most revered critics of Marxist literature and has taught Telugu literature to graduate and undergraduate students for about 40 years. He founded Srujana (creation), a forum for modern literature in Telugu, in 1966 as a quarterly and later turned it into a monthly and successfully brought it out till 1992. He was one of the founders of Viplava Rachayitala Sangahm (Revolutionary Writers' Association), popularly known by its acronym Virasam.
Rao on June 9 refuted allegations that he had arranged funding for Maoist attacks in the country. His name had cropped up in one of three letters that surfaced after an alleged plot by Maoists to eliminate Prime Minister Narendra Modi was revealed. One of the letters said Varavara Rao was given the responsibility of carrying out attacks and it noted that he had arranged for funds to be handed over to Surendra Gadling.
Arun Ferreira
Arun Ferreira, is a law graduate from Siddharth Law College, and is associated with an NGO Navjawan Bharat Sabha. He has also been part of the Indian Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL) and Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights (CPDR).
He spent six years in Nagpur jail as a political prisoner. He was arrested in 2007 for alleged naxalite and anti-national activities under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Eleven cases were registered against him. He fought a relentless legal battle to prove that the charges were false and completely fabricated. In January 2014, he was acquitted in all the cases for lack of substantial evidence.
Susan Abraham & Vernon Gonzalves
Susan Abraham is one of the best civil rights lawyers in Mumbai.
Vernon Gonzalves is a gold medallist from Mumbai University and a former lecturer at Ruparel College and HR College. Security agencies alleged that Gonzalves was an ex-central committee member and former secretary of Maharashtra State Rajya Committee of Naxalites. He was charged in around 20 cases and has been acquitted in all of them as the prosecution could not furnish any evidence.
Anand Teltumbde
Anand Teltumbde is a management professor, civil rights activist and political analyst. He has authored many books on various issues relating to Peoples' movement with particular emphasis on Left and Dalits.
Father Stan Swamy
Fr. Stan Swamy is a people’s rights defender. He is the founder of Vistapan Virodhi Janvikash Andolan (VVJA), an all India platform for different movements that are resisting displacement of adivasi people, dalits, and farmers from their lands. In the recent past, he has expressed dissent with several policies and laws enacted by the government relating to adivasi people and their lands. He has also questioned their validity and legality in the light of the Indian Constitution.
Courtesy: nationalheraldindia.com
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UP minister clarifies after outrage over comment on Nitish hijab issue; SP files police complaint
Lucknow (PTI): "What would have happened if he touched her somewhere else?" The comment on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar pulling down a hijab from a woman's face was lost in translation and carried no ill intent, Uttar Pradesh minister Sanjay Nishad said on Wednesday as outrage snowballed with the opposition and others asking for an apology.
Attempting to defuse the controversy, the Nishad Party chief said the comment, made in Hindi and labelled misogynistic and crude, was light-hearted and made casually, even as a Samajwadi Party office-bearer filed a complaint with the Lucknow police against the UP minister and the Bihar CM.
"My remark was tweaked and twisted, misinterpreted, its spirit lost in cacophony and translation," the state fisheries minister told PTI as the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Aam Aadmi Party sought an unconditional apology.
"If someone has taken offence, I am willing to take back the words from my side," he said.
Nishad said he belongs to Gorakhpur and the Bhojpuri-speaking belt and expressions and conversational styles differ from region to region.
"In Bhojpuri, this is a common way of urging people not to make too much of any issue and to counsel restraint. I chose to use the same style in Hindi and didn't know it will become such an issue," he said.
"Just as language and expressions vary in Haryana, Delhi, Maharashtra or Tamil Nadu, dialects in north India and eastern Uttar Pradesh also differ. That does not mean there was any intention to insult," he said.
Nishad also said Kumar had "merely removed" the veil to verify whether the actual beneficiary of a government scheme was present. He added that the responsibility lay with officials who should have ensured proper arrangements before the programme -- a government event in Patna on Monday.
He added that his remarks carried no ill intent towards any woman, community or religion. "There was neither malice nor any intention of disrespect."
He also alleged that some people were deliberately amplifying the issue for political gain.
Congress' Uttar Pradesh chief Ajay Rai termed Nishad's comment "outrageously anti-women" and said it reflects the mindset of the BJP and its allies.
"We seek unconditional apology failing which we will seek minister's dismissal," Rai told PTI.
SP spokesperson Abbas Haider said Nishad's remarks were "condemnable and undignified".
"I would also like to ask if this is the idea of the BJP led government in UP which the minister has reflected in his statements," Haider said while demanding "an immediate and unconditional apology."
The Aam Aadmi Party's UP unit accused Nishad of making "shameful" and "anti-women" comments, stating that the statement reflected a "crude and misogynistic mindset".
Social media was also filled with posts slamming the minister for his anti-women viewpoint.
Nishad's controversial remark came during an interview with a private channel. "Woh (Kumar) bhi to aadmi hai, kisi ke itna peechhe nahin pad jaana chahiye. Chhoo diya naqaab to kya ho gaya, agar kahin aur chhoo dete to kya ho jaata (He is also a man; one should not go after someone so much. What happened if the veil was removed? What would have happened if he had touched somewhere else?" the minister said.
The video of the interview was circulated widely on social media platforms.
Meanwhile, SP spokesperson Sumaiyya Rana on Wednesday lodged a complaint with the Lucknow police against Nishad and Kumar.
She said a video clip of Bihar CM pulling the hijab of a woman has triggered anger among women, prompting her to submit a complaint seeking police action.
Speaking to PTI Videos, Rana said that as someone who herself wears a hijab, she would not remain silent if such an act was committed against her.
She said the complaint also refers to UP minister Sanjay Nishad's remarks on the issue.
Rana said she submitted a written complaint at the Kaisarbagh police station seeking investigation and registration of an FIR.
Alleging delay by the police, Rana said she was initially sent from Kaisarbagh to Gautampalli police station before her complaint was eventually accepted, with police saying an FIR would be registered only after inquiry.
She said SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and senior leader Dimple Yadav have condemned the incident, and alleged that such remarks by Nishad were not new.
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Kaisarbagh, Ratnesh Singh told PTI on Wednesday evening that the matter is currently under investigation and further action would be taken based on the outcome of the probe.
#WATCH | Lucknow: SP leader Sumaiya Rana has logged a complaint with the Kaiserbagh police against Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. pic.twitter.com/Nxcllktn8p
— ANI (@ANI) December 16, 2025
